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Our most popular yogurt culture! Originating in Finland, the Viili Yogurt Starter cultures at room temperature into a creamy, mild yogurt with a fairly thick consistency. Our Viili yogurt does not have a ropey texture but rather a more gelatinous texture and is perfect in any yogurt recipe.

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Questions on Viili Yogurt Starter

Can this culture be used in a yogurt maker instead of countertop method?

No. The Viili Yogurt Starter is a mesophilic (moderate temperature) starter, it requires temperatures between 70° and 77°. Yogurt makers are designed to maintain a temperature of 110°, perfect for a thermophilic (heat activated) starter but much too hot for a mesophilic culture.

When you have finished preparing/culturing your Viili yogurt, do you leave the "mother" on the counter or refrigerate until the next batch? If you refrigerate it, does in need to come to room temperature before mixing it with the milk? How long can you go between batches, 7 days?

Refrigerate your mother culture until your next batch, which needs to be created within 7 days. No, it doesn't need to be at room temperature when you remove it from the fridge to mix with the milk. You can actually make a batch from the mother culture at any point, up to 7 days. Just be sure that you always have something left to create your new mother culture!

Would this starter work well at culturing cream to make cultured butter or sour cream??

The Viili Yogurt starter will culture cream to make butter or a sour cream, but the flavor may not be very sour, as Viili is a mild-flavored starter culture. Always maintain a batch of yogurt made from milk to use as starter for your next batch. Using cultured cream as starter likely will not work well.

I wanted to use this starter for raw cream and I was wondering if I heat the cream like I am supposed to with the raw milk instructions? It seems odd to me to heat cream for some reason...

Heating cream is just fine. Always make a pasteurized dairy mother culture from milk, and then use it with heated or pasteurized cream that has been cooled to room temp. You will need to make a new pasteurized dairy mother from milk every 7 days to ensure the bacteria stays viable.

I'm in the tropics a lot and was wondering if room temp freeze dried culture will work when it's hot. I prefer bulgarian style, and also have an easiyo maker. Will that work?

Heirloom yogurt starters like the Bulgarian will last 3 to 4 months at room temperatures between 68° and 78°F. For best results, the unopened starter should be refrigerated (will last 9 months) or frozen (12 months).

It says that the Matsoni makes good Frozen Yogurt, does this one make good frozen yogurt too? Leaning towards this variety for eating, but want to make frozen yogurt too. Why is the Matsoni better for frozen yogurt making?

The flavor and texture of Matsoni is perfect for frozen treats but you could certainly make frozen yogurt out of Viili too.

Customer Reviews

Lovely culture with a bright lemony taste, sets beautifully on my counter in 12 hours. I start my culture from cold first thing in the morning before I leave for work and I have yogurt in the evening when I get home - perfect!

I've wanted to make my own yogurt for the longest time, because the commercial versions are frequently over-sweetened, and when they do offer plain, the yogurt is so tart that it makes me pucker. So I was happy to find this site. I tried the Viili, and I am very pleased with it. It is a mild flavor, and it isn't too tart. It is thinner than commercial yogurt, but that is fine with me. I use 2% milk. Then only problem I've had so far is that every batch is lumpy. It doesn't really matter because I can just whisk it until it's smooth. I was surprised with the pricing, but it has already paid for itself. I make a quart a week, and stash a bit out of each batch to make the new batch. I am looking forward to trying a different strain of yogurt.

The flavor is really mild with good, thick consistency. I'm used to eating unsweetened/unflavored yogurt, but for those interested in making the switch, this would be a great option. Culturing on your kitchen counter couldn't be easier and the product is accompanied with clear, step-by-step instructions. As an added bonus, it's very economical. Doing the math, for what one container of store bought yogurt costs me, I can make five - six times that amount (using organic milk).

I love to eat greek yogurt and have made it many times in the past. Of course it takes a little time, but it always tasted good. So I was hoping after reading the other reviews that this yogurt would be a good option and of course very easy to take. I already make milk kefir and so understood the process. Unfortunately, I did not like the taste of this yogurt. It was not very thick, so I strained it as I had in the past done to my own homemade yogurt and also kefir, but this time it was thick, but the flavor was not what I thought it should be. Maybe others will like it, but for my two cents, I did not. I guess when I want yogurt again, I will go back to making it myself.

Response from CFH: Please contact customer support if you experience any problems with your starter. Most cultures can be saved with minor adjustments. Heirloom cultures do behave in unique ways.

I have been using the Viili yogurt starter since my restaurant opened 7 months ago and have not had any issues at all. I use it to make sauces and to culture butter and I am very happy with the results.

First off I will say this was my first yogurt-making experience. I chose the viili as I had not heard of it before, and it was listed as a "mild yogurt taste." I used a sanitized (and cooled) glass canning jar to make it. I used whole milk (not ultra-pasteurized, homogenized) and the culture starter. The first batch sort of set up but was more liquid than anything else. I figured this was how it was supposed to look...until I talked to others. I discarded that culture. A few days later, with a fresh gallon of milk, I tried again. This time it set up well, but after I moved it to the fridge, it quickly broke apart and became liquid. It's still in our fridge: liquid in a plastic container, but I'm wondering if maybe I'm just not a viili person.

Overall, I will say the product seems to be good, the instructions are clear, shipping is fast, and the price is great. Perhaps others have luck with it. Don't let my experience dissuade you from purchasing.

I love this yogurt. I use whole milk and let it ferment in an insulated bag with mason jar filled with hot water. When it is done I add some vanilla and either honey or stevia and pour it over granola and fruit. Made it for my students, and converted some to loving yogurt.

I love this viili. It has a light, creamy flavor when made with whole milk. It faithfully produces a nice batch of yogurt any time I want. I use a seed starting mat when I culture overnight as my house is cool, but in the daytime it works fine right on the counter. My starter batch took 23 hours to set but now it is usually 10 to 12 hours. It sets up nicely when done but is noticeably softer than the regular thermophilic yogurt types; but so much easier and the flavor is less tart!

The starter batch cultured in 27 hours and the next batch in 18 hours. The yogurt is much thicker than I expected and has a nice mild flavor. I used Clover Stonetta organic whole milk, local to California. This is so much better than making yogurt by the heating method. It is a real money saver too, as high quality organic yogurt costs three times as much as making it from the culture.

The viili yogurt is awesome. I am thankful that 2 starter packets are included in the kit. My first batch did not set because, unfortunately, I unknowingly used UHT pasteurized milk so I had to throw it out. My second batch with the second packet turned out excellent. (I was careful to ensure I bought just regularly pasteurized milk.) Now, I have tasty yogurt that I can culture at room temperature and not have to mess with a yogurt maker. I love that it the viili is also an heirloom variety so that is another added benefit. So, to summarize:
1) Low maintenance (can culture at room temperature with no special equipment needed).
2) Heirloom variety (can be re-used again and again to make fresh batches of yogurt).
3) Great tasting.

I was able to make the yogurt with organic milk but my intention was to use it as a starter for non-dairy milk. I used coconut milk and it did not work at all. Now I am yogurt that I am not able to eat. I am not sure what I am going to do.

Response from CFH: Please contact customer support for troubleshooting advice before discarding product. Many cultures can be saved with minor adjustments.

I don't think it tastes like yogurt in my opinion. What it does taste like is delicious sour cream. I have yougurt with all it's benefits no fillers and I never have to buy sour cream again I love it. I do strain mine for about 2 hours. No one has even questioned it on potatos,tacos, or dips or spreads!

If you want it to be store bought thicker you have to bring milk to 195 degrees for ten minuets cool to under 100 degrees and add whipping cream then culture. I wanted to make yogurt better than store bought and now I have.

We love this yoghurt and have ordered it three times. One time the culture did not work at all (perhaps it took longer in the post than anticipated, or perhaps because it was summer?)but the other two were great.

Response from CFH: Curds and whey is a normal result of the culturing process, but is a sign that adjustments need to be made. Please contact Customer Support before discarding any cultures.

I use my yogurt for smoothies. Every morn the entire family has one. As a rule we are not yogurt eaters. IN fact we do not like store yogurt. So, I am rather surprized that the mild taste has been accepted. The process is easy. I put it in the oven withh a light on and in the morn it is done. I make a gallon and it lasts 4-5 days.

Unfortunately did not have a good experience with this product, could not get the yogurt to set, only got the milk to spoil : (

Response from CFH: Please contact customer support for troubleshooting advice before discarding product. Many cultures can be saved with minor adjustments.

(Posted on 12/12/2014)

Attention!

Starter cultures, rennet for cheese making and cultured vegetables, juices and condiments are sensitive to excessive heat. Once your order has shipped, an e-mail with tracking information will be sent to you. We encourage you to use the tracking information to anticipate the arrival of your items so they can be removed from the mail box and stored in the refrigerator promptly.

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